"...It was really something to see. The whole ocean lit up like one thousand 4th of Julys. The bullets were hitting the side of the craft and looking down the hull of my craft there were 35 soldiers...and believe me there wasn't an atheist present.
I glanced over to the right and saw another craft get hit and that's when I realized what we were getting into.
As I hit the beach and the ramp went down, and as the soldiers started pouring out.... they just started dropping... all of their faces were blown off! it's a sight I'll never forget.
One of the young soldier in the back froze at the sight of what had just happened in front of him and did not want to leave the craft, but we were instructed to not take anybody back unless there were either dead or wounded.
As I a lifted up my arm to tell him to get off, I was shot. Bullet went through my arm and out the side. I don't know if the kid get off, but I managed to turn back to craft and head towards the ocean.
On the way, I noticed the 2nd and 3rd wave going towards Omaha.
At the moment, I remembered when the soldiers were telling me to get closer to the beach because they did not want to get wet... they didn't get wet..they get killed." US Navy Coxswain Richard Fazzio, Boat #5, First Wave at Omaha, Normandy, France, June 6th, 1944 #ww2 #reality #stayzero #zerofoxtrot